John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My thanks for the presentations that have been made this morning and the comprehensive answers that have been given as well. I am not going to sit here and pretend. It would be silly to say that we do not have a housing and homelessness crisis, but it is important that we acknowledge the progress that has been made on the issue, not only in Dublin but also in other urban centres.

We need to learn from the solutions that are working in other parts of our country. Unfortunately, the Opposition and elements of the media sometimes focus focused on the negatives around homelessness, without giving sufficient acknowledgement of or coverage to the positives. I have heard ad nauseam that, by every metric, the figures of homelessness are higher than every before. I tend to tear out the little bit of hair I have left on my head out because such assertions are simply not true. Last night, I read the figures that were presented by the DRHE very carefully last night. It was stated that at the end of December the number of families availing of temporary accommodation was at its lowest level since December 2015 and that the number of families living in hotels was at its lowest monthly level since 2014.

We are making progress and that is reflected in Waterford where I come from. Waterford City and County Council has been able to reduce the number of families in emergency accommodation by 93% in the period between 2017 and 2020 and the individual homeless figures by 55%. This was despite the fact that the number presentations effectively doubled in the same period. I am firmly of the belief that if that can be done in an urban centre like Waterford, then it can also be done in other urban centres. It would be useful to delve into how that has occurred. Professor O'Sullivan did not really have the time to go into great detail at the start of the meeting when he said that the figures for the south east had decreased dramatically. The reason that has happened is due to a combination of factors and a commitment to a collaborative and integrated approach to homelessness by the local authority, the HSE, NGOs and approved housing bodies and a focus on preventing homelessness, early intervention, tenancy sustainment and the place finder service. As mentioned by previous speakers, the homeless HAP uplift is an invaluable tool. However, the 20% uplift is not sufficient for single people and a more targeted approach with a 50% uplift would be more appropriate. It has really been the collaboration of all of the parties in an integrated homeless hub in Waterford that has prevented people from falling between the cracks. Do the witnesses agree that the time for operating in silos is at an end and that we need a collaborative approach whereby everyone is sitting in the same room?

Obviously, the elephant in the room is supply. We cannot achieve anything in the absence of supply. It is my opinion that the approved housing bodies and local authorities have to think outside the box in the context of delivering units. We cannot continue to have the utopian view that the only way to proceed is by means of direct builds, which are not a quick delivery method. The repair-and-lease scheme in County Waterford has been transformational in the delivery of one- and two-bed units. I am sure everyone involved in homeless services would agree that such delivery is key to addressing the homeless figures. In that context, 44% of the one- and two-bed units delivered by Waterford City and County Council in recent years were delivered through the scheme to which I refer. It is a crying shame that a scheme that has been proven to work is not being utilised to the full extent by other local authorities and approved housing bodies. It should not be the case that 45% of all repair-and-lease units in the country have been delivered in Waterford. There is a correlation between the use of the scheme, an increase in the number of one- and two-bed units in Waterford and a drastic reduction in the number of homeless people in emergency accommodation. Do our guests agree that county targets should be placed on local authorities and approved housing bodies for the use of the repair-and-lease scheme, particularly when, as I have just outlined, it is clearly working in Waterford?